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Reading opponents
Playing solid beats bad players. But the big money is in adjusting: the right exploit against the right type of opponent.
The same hand, the same line, against a station it earns, against a nit it burns. Who your opponent is decides the right move.
The five archetypes
| Type | Exploit |
|---|---|
| Calling station / fishCalls a lot, rarely folds, rarely bluffs | Stop bluffing. Value bet thinner and more often, they pay off your strong hands. Patience, no fancy plays. |
| Nit / rockPlays few hands, only aggressive with strong ones | Respect their big bets and raises (rarely a bluff). Steal their blinds, fold against their aggression. |
| TAG (tight-aggressive)Selective but aggressive, solid ranges | The toughest. Play solid yourself, avoid marginal spots without position, take value where you have the edge. |
| LAG (loose-aggressive)Many hands, lots of pressure, barrels often | Bluff catch wider, do not fall for every barrel. Let them run into your strong hands; trap with value. |
| ManiacHyper-aggressive, raises/bluffs constantly | Lower your calling thresholds sharply. Let them bluff, call down lighter with reasonable hands. |
Two axes: loose/tight and passive/aggressive
Place every player on two axes: how many hands do they play (loose vs tight) and how often do they bet/raise (passive vs aggressive). A tight-aggressive TAG and a loose-passive station ask for opposite approaches. In the first rounds, watch the showdowns above all: which hands did they play, and how? That is your best read.
The exploit follows the read
Against passive callers: more value, fewer bluffs. Against aggressive bluffers: bluff catch wider. Against nits: steal and respect their aggression. Against unknowns: solid default play until you see something. The order is always the same, first read, then deviate.
Common mistakes
Treating everyone the same
The biggest exploit leak. A line that works against a TAG (bluffing) burns money against a station. Adjust to the type, not to a fixed script.
Bluffing a station
Someone who never folds cannot be bluffed out of a pot. Against calling stations you switch to pure value, every bluff is burnt money.
Too little respect for a nit's raise
A player who did nothing for hours and suddenly raises big almost always has it. Folding your marginal hand here is not weakness but discipline.
Inventing assumptions about unknowns
Without reads you fall back on a solid, balanced base strategy. Inventing assumptions about an unknown player costs more than briefly playing neutral until you have info.
In short
Place every player on the two axes, recognise the archetype, and pick the matching exploit: value against stations, bluff catch against LAGs, respect and steal against nits, solid default play against unknowns. First read, then deviate, that is where your edge lives.
Pokiq
From this explanation to your own choice
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